D&D General Joe Manganiello: Compares Early 5E to BG 3 . How Important is Lore?

[MGibster]

Why do people care so much about some crusty settings?

In theory, one of the nice things about an established setting is that everyone particpating in the game is familiar with it. I say in theory because I've given up on some of my players taking any interest at all in any setting. You can lead a player to a setting but you can't make them read. In addition to convenience, sometimes you find a setting you just really enjoy.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Oh, hah, I remember that 4th edition ad now, with the French accent "but the game is the same?"

What's you're problem, man? There were great things about 4th edition!

There were great things about 4e. I have no problem with it existing, even if I didn't like it personally (and I gave it a fair shake). But it wasn't the same game, and less so than any version of D&D before or since.

 

[Minigiant]

Given the support we got in 4e and 5e (by and large), I would have been happier if they stopped at 3e.

But you don't hold the IP.
That's the difference between being a seller and a customer.

As the IP holder, WOTC legally has to do things to make more consumers become customers of their product or they lose the IP.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It was the same game.


It's is just that in each of the last 3 edition changes, new tools and new fan considerations were added to the game.

I mean the mechanics and base lore of the older editions were sooo rigid that older setting would be forced to update with newer editions or straight up no longer get support.

Very little lore was outright changed in 3e or 5e (at first), and both of those were quite different mechanically from the TSR editions. It wasn't the mechanics that made 4e change the lore. It was the corporation that green-lit it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But you don't hold the IP.
That's the difference between being a seller and a customer.

As the IP holder, WOTC legally has to do things to make more consumers become customers of their product or they lose the IP.

No they don't. They own the IP. There are IPs they own that they haven't done anything with in decades. They still own it just as much as they own the Realms.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well an established public setting allows for the groups members to all be on the same page and lets people who want to be more engaged get more engaged.

The issue is the demand for the lore to be static. New game design emerges. New story design emerges. New story to game interaction emerges. New groups join the fandom adding their desires for stories and gameplay.

Demanding a setting stay static is locking the fandom of it in place. Which is fine if you don't want continued support and wish to gatekeep it until it's death. However if the setting is to be everliving it has to match forward. And this is the toughest part long time fans have coming to grips with.

So is the OP wrong then? Has making major changes to the IP led to more sales of that IP's products? Have they become more popular than they would be if they hadn't messed with the lore?

 

[Minigiant]

So is the OP wrong then? Has making major changes to the IP led to more sales of that IP's products? Have they become more popular than they would be if they hadn't messed with the lore?

5e is the most popular and successful edition of D&D.

5e FR let's you play a dwarven non-elven bladesinger master wizard multiclassed with a godless paladin.

 

[Quickleaf]

5e is the most popular and successful edition of D&D.

5e FR let's you play a dwarven non-elven blade master wizard multiclassed with a godless paladin.

Question: Does my level cap as a dwarf take up an attunement slot for my head?

 

[Micah Sweet]

5e is the most popular and successful edition of D&D.

5e FR let's you play a dwarven non-elven blade master wizard multiclassed with a godless paladin.

How much of that success is owed to the current lore of the Forgotten Realms?

 

[TerraDave]

For the those 3 products implied in the OP it’s not about lore, it’s about lackluster execution.

CoS is one of the most successful D&D products of all time. It has plenty of updated lore, it’s just better.